Dinosapien
Encyclopedia
Dinosapien is a British
/Canadian
children's television program produced jointly by BBC Worldwide
and Cambium Catalyst International with SEVEN24 Films
.
Overall 15 episodes were made, each 21 and half minutes long (30 minutes total when factoring in commercials). The series is filmed in Bragg Creek, Alberta
. The program made its debut on March 24, 2007 on Discovery Kids
and CBBC
. The series ended on June 30, 2007. Each program contains around six minutes of CGI
. Brittney Wilson
stars as Lauren Slayton, Suzanna Hamilton
as Dr. Slayton and James Coombes
as the villain, Dr. Aikens. Because of the Native Americans
role in the series, the show could possibly be loosely based on Turok
.
Sci-fi veteran David Winning
directed the pilot and first three episodes and Brendan Sheppard, known for his work on Doctor Who
DVDs, directed five episodes.
Marc Lougee, veteran of several award-winning animated series (including MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and the CBC's What It's Like Being Alone) directed CG animation and Visual Effects/2nd unit for the series prior to filming The Pit and the Pendulum, a stop motion animated adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale. The Pit and the Pendulum was executive produced by animation icon Mr. Ray Harryhausen, joined by DINOSAPIEN producer Pete Denomme and Fred Fuchs.
s had continued to exist and evolve into more intelligent beings (Lauren mentions in the opening credits "People think dinosaurs are extinct, but what if they're wrong?"). It is set at Dinosaur Adventure Camp, a dinosaur-themed summer camp in Canada
, where Dr. Hillary Slayton lives with her teenage daughter Lauren. Dr Slayton's husband Alan mysteriously disappeared on a fossil
expedition into the Badlands and her daughter hasn’t come to terms with his disappearance. Lauren is, however, the first human to encounter one of the evolved dinosaurs, which she eventually gets to know. Throughout the series Dr. Slayton befriends Dr. Aikens (who later turns villainous) and Lauren makes lots of friends before finding out more about dinosaurs and her father's disappearance.
-like feathers on the head (like human hair) and tail, yellow hawk-like forward eyes, feet like a dromaeosaur, and a short snout. In fact, Lauren confirmed that Eno's kind evolved from the species Dromaeosaurus
. Like a parrot, Eno can copy and use words almost in context, but despite his intelligence, he has a four year-old child's grammar when he talks. Eno is known to make squawking sounds similar to that of a bird, and quite sensitive to high-pitched sounds; they have a tendency to scare and drive him away. He is also known for climbing trees, but only for hiding or escaping. Judging from an incident when Eno was seen eating hot dogs and leaves, he is possibly omnivorous.
The Diggers - Two rather goofy bipedal Pinacosaurus
, but with little arms like a T. Rex
. They are insectivores. They are Eno's enemies, and they chase him persistently. They also chase everyone else and seem just evil. They can make things and use tools. They have a weakness though; they can be disabled temporarily by very bright lights (shown by nictating eyelids). Lauren has nicknamed them Green Eyes (the male) and Cerepta (the female). The Diggers were apparently killed in the final episode in the Badlands when the Thunderbird cloud ignited Aiken's dynamite stash. This is not certain, since Aikens survived the explosion making it possible that they could have as well. Since Cerepta is female and the leader of the duo it might hint that in their species the females are most dominant.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
/Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
children's television program produced jointly by BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
and Cambium Catalyst International with SEVEN24 Films
SEVEN24 Films
SEVEN24 Films is a Canadian television production company based in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1989, SEVEN24 have produced and co-produced a number of television series, TV movies as well as feature films....
.
Overall 15 episodes were made, each 21 and half minutes long (30 minutes total when factoring in commercials). The series is filmed in Bragg Creek, Alberta
Bragg Creek, Alberta
Bragg Creek is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County in Division No. 6. It is also recognized as a designated place by Statistics Canada....
. The program made its debut on March 24, 2007 on Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...
and CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
. The series ended on June 30, 2007. Each program contains around six minutes of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
. Brittney Wilson
Brittney Wilson
Brittney Meriah Wilson is a Canadian actress. She was born in Chilliwack, British Columbia.-Movies:* Ice Blues - Lilah/Amy* Scar - Joan Burrows* Spymate - Jules* Connie and Carla - Young Carla...
stars as Lauren Slayton, Suzanna Hamilton
Suzanna Hamilton
Suzanna Hamilton is an English actress. She is most famous for her performance as Julia in the modern film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.-Early career:...
as Dr. Slayton and James Coombes
James Coombes
James Coombes is a British actor with a number of television and theatre credits to his name.He was educated at Glasllwch primary school and then Duffryn High School in Newport, S Wales....
as the villain, Dr. Aikens. Because of the Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
role in the series, the show could possibly be loosely based on Turok
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
.
Sci-fi veteran David Winning
David Winning
David Winning is a Canadian and American dual Citizen film and television director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and occasional actor. Although Winning has worked in numerous film and TV genres, his name is most commonly associated with science fiction, thrillers and drama.-Biography:Winning...
directed the pilot and first three episodes and Brendan Sheppard, known for his work on Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
DVDs, directed five episodes.
Marc Lougee, veteran of several award-winning animated series (including MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and the CBC's What It's Like Being Alone) directed CG animation and Visual Effects/2nd unit for the series prior to filming The Pit and the Pendulum, a stop motion animated adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale. The Pit and the Pendulum was executive produced by animation icon Mr. Ray Harryhausen, joined by DINOSAPIEN producer Pete Denomme and Fred Fuchs.
Premise
The program focuses on what would happen if dinosaurDinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s had continued to exist and evolve into more intelligent beings (Lauren mentions in the opening credits "People think dinosaurs are extinct, but what if they're wrong?"). It is set at Dinosaur Adventure Camp, a dinosaur-themed summer camp in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where Dr. Hillary Slayton lives with her teenage daughter Lauren. Dr Slayton's husband Alan mysteriously disappeared on a fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
expedition into the Badlands and her daughter hasn’t come to terms with his disappearance. Lauren is, however, the first human to encounter one of the evolved dinosaurs, which she eventually gets to know. Throughout the series Dr. Slayton befriends Dr. Aikens (who later turns villainous) and Lauren makes lots of friends before finding out more about dinosaurs and her father's disappearance.
Cast
- Brittney WilsonBrittney WilsonBrittney Meriah Wilson is a Canadian actress. She was born in Chilliwack, British Columbia.-Movies:* Ice Blues - Lilah/Amy* Scar - Joan Burrows* Spymate - Jules* Connie and Carla - Young Carla...
as Lauren Slayton - Bronson PelletierBronson PelletierBronson Pelletier is a Canadian television actor, best known for his role as Jack Sinclair in renegadepress.com , and for his role in New Moon.He also had roles in Art Zone and Dinosapien...
as Kit Whitefeather - MacKenzie Porter as Courtney
- Jeffrey Watson as Chris Langhorn
- Suzanna HamiltonSuzanna HamiltonSuzanna Hamilton is an English actress. She is most famous for her performance as Julia in the modern film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.-Early career:...
as Dr. Hilary Slayton - James CoombesJames CoombesJames Coombes is a British actor with a number of television and theatre credits to his name.He was educated at Glasllwch primary school and then Duffryn High School in Newport, S Wales....
as Dr. Clive Aikens - Alexandra Gingras as Danny Ort
- Brendan MeyerBrendan MeyerBrendan Meyer is a Canadian teen actor, known for his role as Adam Young in Mr. Young and Nelson Ort in the television program Dinosapien.-Filmography:-Awards/Nominations:-External links:...
as Nelson Ort - Dean Manywounds as Ten Bears
Dinosaurs
Eno - A 6 feet (1.8 m) theropod teenage dinosaur who is pale green with red and yellow stripes along his back, has a grey underbelly, pheasantPheasant
Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
-like feathers on the head (like human hair) and tail, yellow hawk-like forward eyes, feet like a dromaeosaur, and a short snout. In fact, Lauren confirmed that Eno's kind evolved from the species Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period , sometime between 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago, in the western United States and Alberta, Canada. The name means 'running lizard'....
. Like a parrot, Eno can copy and use words almost in context, but despite his intelligence, he has a four year-old child's grammar when he talks. Eno is known to make squawking sounds similar to that of a bird, and quite sensitive to high-pitched sounds; they have a tendency to scare and drive him away. He is also known for climbing trees, but only for hiding or escaping. Judging from an incident when Eno was seen eating hot dogs and leaves, he is possibly omnivorous.
The Diggers - Two rather goofy bipedal Pinacosaurus
Pinacosaurus
Pinacosaurus is a genus of medium-sized ankylosaur dinosaurs that lived from the late Santonian to the late Campanian stages of the late Cretaceous Period , in Mongolia and China...
, but with little arms like a T. Rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. They are insectivores. They are Eno's enemies, and they chase him persistently. They also chase everyone else and seem just evil. They can make things and use tools. They have a weakness though; they can be disabled temporarily by very bright lights (shown by nictating eyelids). Lauren has nicknamed them Green Eyes (the male) and Cerepta (the female). The Diggers were apparently killed in the final episode in the Badlands when the Thunderbird cloud ignited Aiken's dynamite stash. This is not certain, since Aikens survived the explosion making it possible that they could have as well. Since Cerepta is female and the leader of the duo it might hint that in their species the females are most dominant.
Episodes
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